Understanding why oral health professionals migrate: A qualitative investigation of Iranian dentists who have moved to Canada (Oral health professionals’ migration)

Figures & data

Table 1. Factors influencing the migration of dentists from Iran.

Analytical Areas	Themes	Sub-themes
Socio-political	Restrictions on citizens’ rights	Lack of social and individual freedoms
		Religious limitations
	Disrespect for human dignity and poor social capital	Social anxiety and stress
		Gender discrimination and imposed gender roles
		Poor ethical principles based on social work core values and accountability
		Cultural norms and societal value judgments
		Interference in individuals’ privacy
	Foreign and domestic policy issues	Poor international relations and its consequences
		Difficulty in obtaining visas and travelling
		Poor physical safety in communities
		Broad political instability
		Corruption and lack of meritocracy
Economic	Devaluation of currency and inflation	Volatile remuneration (due to devaluation of currency)
		Business instability (increased cost of doing business and lack of access to some dental materials)
		Poor financial security
Professional	Unfavorable educational environment	Unfair student selection process based on biased university admission criteria
		Feeling a technology gap with developed countries
	Unclear career prospects	Shortage of postgraduate training opportunities
		Limitation for career progression and academic position
Personal	Concern for significant others	Concerns about quality of life and education for children
		Partner or family desire for migration
	Worry about own future	Lack of continuing education opportunities
		Poor income and employment prospects